Women and Minorities in G.I. Joe
Well, well. The Last Failbender is coming to Indonesia on August 4th, and under my breath I’m cursing it to fail even more. It’s bewildering how some people could not see what a fail the film is - whitewashing the characters. And yes, I like using the word ‘fail’ in the same paragraph with ‘The Last Failbender’ again and again.
It reminded me to Judd Winick’s preface to Brother’s Keeper: it doesn’t seem too unreasonable that, in comics where there are heroes with various superpowers and aliens of every colour and shape, there are also more women, Latinos, Africans, Asians, Middle Easterners, immigrants, and other minorities - not merely white, male, heterosexual Americans.
That’s why in this post I’m turning to a series I’ve loved so much since my childhood - G.I. Joe - to take a glimpse at how ‘minority’ groups are presented in a comic series that seems so American. After all, G.I. Joe is claimed as ‘a real American hero’, and most of the members are those ‘white, male, heterosexual Americans’ (but then again, ‘don’t ask don’t tell’… who knows - actually it’ll be interesting if a writer would explore this idea of a gay trooper in the team…).
The movie adaptation, which I enjoyed although it had substantial differences with the original series, still put blond hunk Duke as the main character, like the latter comics and animations did. But the other blond trooper, Ripcord, was magicked to become an African-American (who won Scarlet’s heart, isn’t that awesome!) while originally ‘white’ Breaker was also turned into an Arab.
But since the beginning of the original series, there were already members from minority background: Stalker, the African-American who continued to be one of the most important members throughout the series, and Zap, of Hispanic background. Later on, there were also other popular African-American characters like Doc, General Hollingsworth, Iceberg, Roadblock and Heavy Duty (who also appeared in the movie, as an African-British).
To be fair, even the whites in the team were not really what you’d call the sparkingly popular guys who played for your school football team. They were outcasts, nerds, geeks - many keep on being those even when they’re already adult soldiers in the elite team (just to name a few: Sci-Fi, Airtight, … a long list, trust me). Many were chosen to join the team not because they’re the do-gooders, top-list soldiers, but because they show some other qualities perhaps seemingly unimportant for gun-wielding people. Grunt was admitted because he showed tenderness of heart while Steeler carried a dead comrade out of a desert. This elite team was indeed actually an amazing assortment of characters.
There have never been too many women in the team, but who dares to doubt the likes of Scarlett and Lady Jaye? Cover Girl drove tanks, while Clutch and his facial hair only got to drive smaller vehicles. In Warren Ellis’ animation G.I. Joe: Resolute Dial-Tone was even changed into a girl. These women do not only add ‘a feminine touch’ to the team; they’re also characters of their own right, with their own awesomeness. But I have to add that some episodes/chapters would proceed without any single lady in it, and there was controversy when, in a bad taste, a chapter showed Lady Jaye having a catfight with Zarana while the boys - Joes, Cobras, Dreadnoks - watching in awe. Apologies subsequently were issued.
Returning to the minorities: who else arguably is more awesome than Storm Shadow, the ninja of the gray-area?
To start with: unlike Snake-Eyes, the white ninja with black outfit, Storm Shadow was a Japanese. His real name is Tomisaburo ‘Tommy’ Arashikage - that’s why I always laughed everytime in the movie adaptation the Master called him ‘STORM SHADOW!’ when they’re in Japan and he should have called Tommy by his Japanese name.
Of course, there’s some eyerolling when you think that Snake-Eyes, who joined the clan long after Tommy did (Tommy was born into it, anyway), could suddenly become ‘the rising sun’ of the clan, into whose hands the future of the Arashikage will be passed on. A white man comes, masters, conquers? We have to take note, though, that in terms of some skills, Snake-Eyes could not surpass Tommy - and the Masters. But Tommy was defeated by anger and jealousy that took over his heart. These are his defects, but if you look into it further, you’ll realise how this adds depth to his character. He’s not merely an Asian who’s wise, patient, a holder of the esoteric secrets of the East, or a very very bad guy with no clear reasons why he’s bad except that he’s Asian or foreign. Tommy is not two-dimensional: he has his share of pain and love, his moments of being confused and being awesome. He’s not just a by-stander: he influenced the overall story of G.I. Joe, and later had a series of his own.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember any other Asian character who was so influential in American comics from the 80’s/early 90’s. And he’s still one of the most-loved G.I. Joe characters of all time, and Lee Byung-Hun managed to ensure that he will still be it!
(Some more details about the Arashikage: most other members were of course Japanese, but apart from Snake-Eyes, there were also other members of European descent - Zartan, and later, Kamakura and Billy; and the Blind Master was an African-American.)
Storm Shadow changed sides a couple of times, and at the end I guess he’s just a man of his own. In the G.I. Joe team itself, there were some Asians, notably the Chinese Tunnel Rat and Japanese/Korean Quick Kick.
The character designs of G.I. Joe sometimes exaggerate stereotypes, but not only those of the characters with minority background. The original design of Cross-Country the Southerner had the gray South flag all over him, but though he said he’s proud of being a redneck, he’s never shown to be a guy who believes in white superiority or something. He even hangs out with Spirit and Quick Kick, and is a nerd himself, with thoughts almost always on vehicles and machines.
And Spirit, ah, Spirit. What else do you need to convince you that he’s a Native-American? (But I have to admit his long hair is cool! Who else in the army has hair as long as his except for the women?)
And here’s Quick Kick in his battle outfit - how can you not know that he’s Asian?
Quick Kick and Stalker
But when they’re not on duty, actually they wear clothes like the others.
Spirit, Quick Kick, and Cross-Country
Quick Kick hold important roles in some arcs of the classic series, although he was later killed in issue #109, along with some other Joes; and after season 1, he was not a character that featured much in the animation. Spirit Iron-Knife, even more stereotyped than ever, appeared in the later versions of animation, with some kind of, huh, spiritual powers.
Another profound Asian member was Tunnel Rat, the cheerful little guy with big guns. He’s funny, and outspoken: he clearly said to Lieutenant Falcon that he hated to lead the team crawling in the sewers in Cobra Island, and he didn’t want to take the honours of climbing the stairs first; but he did it anyway because he’s a soldier, never was it implied that he’s some submissive Asian who always obeys orders of the elderly and the uppers in the pecking order.
While for Tunnel Rat a lacking in the height department didn’t seem to mean much, it affected Quick Kick more; he was turned down when he wanted to play basketball, and turned to martial arts instead. To be frank, it feels a bit like saying, look, you’re born (East) Asian, you’re short, you don’t play American games, get back to what your people know best. In fact almost all Asians that appear in G.I. Joe are masters of martial arts - that’s why Tunnel Rat is an incredible exception.
The good news is that Tunnel Rat continues to be a favourite character: he appeared in Sigma Six, although the anime-style applied makes him look undistinctive from the non-Asian characters, and also in Resolute. (Sigma Six actually played on the ignorance of some Western people to the real conditions of the East: the Dreadnoks showed up in Tokyo wearing historical Japanese costumes, while all around them the Japanese dressed up in modern day clothes.)
Tunnel Rat and Cover Girl in Resolute
These are just some of the characters of minority background that has, and still appear in G.I. Joe. The most important thing to me was that: I grew up reading and watching a series in which I saw many groups represented, despite some stereotypes and the landscape still being dominated by the white guys; but it’s already quite a breakthrough for the time.
To finish this off, I want to show you what was perhaps one of the awesomest moment in G.I. Joe: in Declassified we finally find out who the member who went with the name Shooter was. Ever since the first volume of Classic G.I. Joe, we were shown a list of Joes, including one named Shooter, whose photograph was always covered by somebody’s hand.
We, and indeed the other members of G.I. Joe, never knew who this secret member was, until it was revealed in Declassified:
Yes. Shooter was a woman, and an African-American.
Awesome.
Bonus: If G.I. Joe and Cobra members tweet...
It reminded me to Judd Winick’s preface to Brother’s Keeper: it doesn’t seem too unreasonable that, in comics where there are heroes with various superpowers and aliens of every colour and shape, there are also more women, Latinos, Africans, Asians, Middle Easterners, immigrants, and other minorities - not merely white, male, heterosexual Americans.
That’s why in this post I’m turning to a series I’ve loved so much since my childhood - G.I. Joe - to take a glimpse at how ‘minority’ groups are presented in a comic series that seems so American. After all, G.I. Joe is claimed as ‘a real American hero’, and most of the members are those ‘white, male, heterosexual Americans’ (but then again, ‘don’t ask don’t tell’… who knows - actually it’ll be interesting if a writer would explore this idea of a gay trooper in the team…).
The movie adaptation, which I enjoyed although it had substantial differences with the original series, still put blond hunk Duke as the main character, like the latter comics and animations did. But the other blond trooper, Ripcord, was magicked to become an African-American (who won Scarlet’s heart, isn’t that awesome!) while originally ‘white’ Breaker was also turned into an Arab.
But since the beginning of the original series, there were already members from minority background: Stalker, the African-American who continued to be one of the most important members throughout the series, and Zap, of Hispanic background. Later on, there were also other popular African-American characters like Doc, General Hollingsworth, Iceberg, Roadblock and Heavy Duty (who also appeared in the movie, as an African-British).
To be fair, even the whites in the team were not really what you’d call the sparkingly popular guys who played for your school football team. They were outcasts, nerds, geeks - many keep on being those even when they’re already adult soldiers in the elite team (just to name a few: Sci-Fi, Airtight, … a long list, trust me). Many were chosen to join the team not because they’re the do-gooders, top-list soldiers, but because they show some other qualities perhaps seemingly unimportant for gun-wielding people. Grunt was admitted because he showed tenderness of heart while Steeler carried a dead comrade out of a desert. This elite team was indeed actually an amazing assortment of characters.
There have never been too many women in the team, but who dares to doubt the likes of Scarlett and Lady Jaye? Cover Girl drove tanks, while Clutch and his facial hair only got to drive smaller vehicles. In Warren Ellis’ animation G.I. Joe: Resolute Dial-Tone was even changed into a girl. These women do not only add ‘a feminine touch’ to the team; they’re also characters of their own right, with their own awesomeness. But I have to add that some episodes/chapters would proceed without any single lady in it, and there was controversy when, in a bad taste, a chapter showed Lady Jaye having a catfight with Zarana while the boys - Joes, Cobras, Dreadnoks - watching in awe. Apologies subsequently were issued.
Returning to the minorities: who else arguably is more awesome than Storm Shadow, the ninja of the gray-area?
To start with: unlike Snake-Eyes, the white ninja with black outfit, Storm Shadow was a Japanese. His real name is Tomisaburo ‘Tommy’ Arashikage - that’s why I always laughed everytime in the movie adaptation the Master called him ‘STORM SHADOW!’ when they’re in Japan and he should have called Tommy by his Japanese name.
Of course, there’s some eyerolling when you think that Snake-Eyes, who joined the clan long after Tommy did (Tommy was born into it, anyway), could suddenly become ‘the rising sun’ of the clan, into whose hands the future of the Arashikage will be passed on. A white man comes, masters, conquers? We have to take note, though, that in terms of some skills, Snake-Eyes could not surpass Tommy - and the Masters. But Tommy was defeated by anger and jealousy that took over his heart. These are his defects, but if you look into it further, you’ll realise how this adds depth to his character. He’s not merely an Asian who’s wise, patient, a holder of the esoteric secrets of the East, or a very very bad guy with no clear reasons why he’s bad except that he’s Asian or foreign. Tommy is not two-dimensional: he has his share of pain and love, his moments of being confused and being awesome. He’s not just a by-stander: he influenced the overall story of G.I. Joe, and later had a series of his own.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember any other Asian character who was so influential in American comics from the 80’s/early 90’s. And he’s still one of the most-loved G.I. Joe characters of all time, and Lee Byung-Hun managed to ensure that he will still be it!
(Some more details about the Arashikage: most other members were of course Japanese, but apart from Snake-Eyes, there were also other members of European descent - Zartan, and later, Kamakura and Billy; and the Blind Master was an African-American.)
Storm Shadow changed sides a couple of times, and at the end I guess he’s just a man of his own. In the G.I. Joe team itself, there were some Asians, notably the Chinese Tunnel Rat and Japanese/Korean Quick Kick.
The character designs of G.I. Joe sometimes exaggerate stereotypes, but not only those of the characters with minority background. The original design of Cross-Country the Southerner had the gray South flag all over him, but though he said he’s proud of being a redneck, he’s never shown to be a guy who believes in white superiority or something. He even hangs out with Spirit and Quick Kick, and is a nerd himself, with thoughts almost always on vehicles and machines.
And Spirit, ah, Spirit. What else do you need to convince you that he’s a Native-American? (But I have to admit his long hair is cool! Who else in the army has hair as long as his except for the women?)
And here’s Quick Kick in his battle outfit - how can you not know that he’s Asian?
Quick Kick and Stalker
But when they’re not on duty, actually they wear clothes like the others.
Spirit, Quick Kick, and Cross-Country
Quick Kick hold important roles in some arcs of the classic series, although he was later killed in issue #109, along with some other Joes; and after season 1, he was not a character that featured much in the animation. Spirit Iron-Knife, even more stereotyped than ever, appeared in the later versions of animation, with some kind of, huh, spiritual powers.
Another profound Asian member was Tunnel Rat, the cheerful little guy with big guns. He’s funny, and outspoken: he clearly said to Lieutenant Falcon that he hated to lead the team crawling in the sewers in Cobra Island, and he didn’t want to take the honours of climbing the stairs first; but he did it anyway because he’s a soldier, never was it implied that he’s some submissive Asian who always obeys orders of the elderly and the uppers in the pecking order.
While for Tunnel Rat a lacking in the height department didn’t seem to mean much, it affected Quick Kick more; he was turned down when he wanted to play basketball, and turned to martial arts instead. To be frank, it feels a bit like saying, look, you’re born (East) Asian, you’re short, you don’t play American games, get back to what your people know best. In fact almost all Asians that appear in G.I. Joe are masters of martial arts - that’s why Tunnel Rat is an incredible exception.
The good news is that Tunnel Rat continues to be a favourite character: he appeared in Sigma Six, although the anime-style applied makes him look undistinctive from the non-Asian characters, and also in Resolute. (Sigma Six actually played on the ignorance of some Western people to the real conditions of the East: the Dreadnoks showed up in Tokyo wearing historical Japanese costumes, while all around them the Japanese dressed up in modern day clothes.)
Tunnel Rat and Cover Girl in Resolute
These are just some of the characters of minority background that has, and still appear in G.I. Joe. The most important thing to me was that: I grew up reading and watching a series in which I saw many groups represented, despite some stereotypes and the landscape still being dominated by the white guys; but it’s already quite a breakthrough for the time.
To finish this off, I want to show you what was perhaps one of the awesomest moment in G.I. Joe: in Declassified we finally find out who the member who went with the name Shooter was. Ever since the first volume of Classic G.I. Joe, we were shown a list of Joes, including one named Shooter, whose photograph was always covered by somebody’s hand.
We, and indeed the other members of G.I. Joe, never knew who this secret member was, until it was revealed in Declassified:
Yes. Shooter was a woman, and an African-American.
Awesome.
Bonus: If G.I. Joe and Cobra members tweet...